Better Health

Whether measured against international or domestic standards, the U.S. health care system could perform much better than it does. The Faculty of Public Health chose to focus on the mental health agenda, making it the core theme of their annual conference this year and collaborating with the Mental Health Foundation to combine expertise and produce some key resource aimed at supporting the development of knowledge and skills in public mental health.

All of this reflects an awareness that what happens internationally and globally affects health security in the UK. It’s also apparent that the expertise based in the UK has much to offer the rest of the world, as illustrated by PHE’s successful efforts to give public health and science a bigger role within the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk reduction (2015-2030).

Although I fully acknowledge the challenges in the EMRO region, I would like to call upon clinicians and public health professionals in the UK to raise awareness, encourage testing for BBV and promote contact tracing and Hepatitis B vaccination as interim measures to reduce the risks associated with this ceremony.

A year after the publication of Professor Lord Ara Darzi’s London Health Commission report Better Health for London, the new report show how – individually and through collaboration – partners in the NHS, local government and more widely are driving action to improve the health and wellbeing of Londoners.

Now, one year on, the London Health Board- made up of NHS England (London), the capital’s 32 clinical commissioning groups, Public Health England (London) and Mayor Boris Johnson – has published a new report setting out the extent of the progress made over the past 12 months.